2 September 2001

Satcoms

ChinaSat Buys Radyne Comstream IPSat Solution
Radyne ComStream has announced a US$ 1.1 million award from ChinaSat, the first phase of a new project in China for deployment of Radyne ComStream's IPSat Internet over Satellite system to provide Internet services in remote areas.

The IPSat, is a low cost Satellite Internet infrastructure solution that is easily upgradeable in the future to the IPSat Plus, a dynamic-bandwidth-allocation TDMA solution.

ChinaSat plans to actively market IP delivery services throughout China via Radyne ComStream's IPSat.

TV Espanola Upgrades With Scopus
TV Espanola (TVE) is deploying Scopus platforms to upgrade a number of its digital broadcast platforms.

TVE is deploying Scopus complete end-to-end system solution for a distribution system enabling it to broadcast digitally in Spain and eventually to Latin America. Scopus is supplying its Codico platforms for TVE's head-end in Madrid as well as for transmission sites throughout Spain.

Scopus' TV distribution system for TVE includes outfitting the broadcaster with a series of encoders with redundant units, statistical multiplexers, conditional access equipment and IRDs (Integrated Receiver Decoders). Scopus is working with Ibercom, a leading systems integrator and Scopus partner. In the past 12 months, Scopus has deployed several satellite TV distribution systems for Retevision and Globecast (Spain).

US$ 150 Million for iDirect in First Quarter of Commercial Availability
iDirect has announced that it has received US$ 150 million in contract commitments for its high-speed router solutions during the company's first quarter of commercial availability.

iDirect develops hardware and software technology that makes available Internet access via satellite to businesses located in nearly every region of the world. The signed contracts will support system integrators and network operators in Africa, the Americas, Eastern and Western Europe and the Middle East.

The company also announced that its technology is in evaluation by four of the world's leading satellite network operators, which include Eutelsat, New Skies, Verestar, and Telesat.

Under terms of the agreements, iDirect will provide its flagship product, the NetModem II Broadband Router to satellite system integrators around the world. NetModem II is the world's fastest modem for two-way Internet connections via satellite, operating at speeds of up to 10 Mb/s. The NetModem II is highly scalable in terms of both inbound and outbound data rates, meeting the needs of all customers regardless of current or future bandwidth requirements.

Additionally, iDirect will supply satellite network operators with a turnkey solution, which enables them to covert their existing teleport into Internet Gateways. This turnkey solution includes an iDirect Hub NetModem and all necessary hardware and software components including a network management system.

Earth Observation

NASA Helps Californian Wine Producers
NASA researchers are helping growers improve wine quality by using remote-sensing technology to scan vineyards from high above California.

Scientists are using images taken from aircraft and satellites to map vineyard leaf area to help vintners measure ripening rate, disease incidence, soil drainage and fruit quality.

Researchers divided groups of vines in the study area into high-, moderate-and low-vigour areas, which have unique flavours and levels of grape maturity, allowing for different styles of wine. Results of the study confirm that the low- and moderate-vigour areas produced higher quality wines, while the high-vigour area produced medium quality wine. The winery has engaged a commercial remote-sensing vendor for 'decision support' across its Napa properties, the researchers said. Scientists also measured light levels, water status, chlorophyll and other factors on the ground.

"In certain regions of France, grapes have been grown for more than 1,700 years. Vintners in these regions have had abundant time to understand how vintage varies throughout the vineyard," explained principal investigator Lee Johnson, a research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. "By contrast, the majority of vineyard development in California's Napa Valley has occurred since the mid-1960s." Until now, Napa vintners generally have treated large 'blocks' of vines as single units for cultivation and harvest.

Remote-sensing imagery allows Robert Mondavi winegrowers to better understand micro-regions within their vineyards. "We now identify vine vigour to see weak and strong areas of growth in the vineyard, then we break up how we harvest," said Daniel Bosch, vineyard technical manager at Robert Mondavi Winery. "We can taste those differences in the grapes at harvest."

"Winemakers blend wines from different lots to create a desired flavour profile in the final wine," Johnson said. "A greater number of distinct wine lots will provide the winemaker with increased latitude in blending and serve to increase quality."

Scientists on the ground measured leaf area in selected sample sites at the Robert Mondavi Winery. The researchers then combined the ground-gathered leaf area data with aerial and satellite information to make an accurate map of the vineyard under study. Researchers used red and 'near' infrared images to monitor plant density, comparing various vine areas.

NASA 'remote sensing' of vineyards by aircraft and satellite first began at Robert Mondavi Winery in 1993 to track the phylloxera infestation that was affecting northern California. From the late 1980s, California winegrowers faced destruction of their vines by infestation of the pest that kills vines by feeding on their roots. Infested areas must eventually be replanted on a phylloxera-resistant or tolerant rootstock.

Singapore Added to Ikonos Ground Station Network
The Center for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP) at the National University of Singapore has begun direct tasking and data collection of high-resolution imagery from the Ikonos satellite.

As Ikonos passes through a 4,600 km diameter communications circle around Singapore, CRISP is now able to task, collect, download and process the imagery, all in a short amount of time.

CRISP will use the high-resolution imagery for: project planning and monitoring, seaport and airport management, insurance and risk management, disaster assessment, forestry management and environmental monitoring, coastal zone mapping, urban planning, and tropical vegetation studies.

CRISP was established in 1992 as a National Science and Technology Board (NSTB) Research Center located at the National University of Singapore. The centre has focused on scientific research in the basic principles and applications of remote sensing technology. CRISP has been receiving, processing and archiving imagery from various commercial remote-sensing satellites since 1995. The centre is a major international satellite ground station and research facility with a reputation for quality scientific research, technical competence and superior products and consultancy services. CRISP has achieved international recognition for its research on ocean pollution and forest fire detection.

Science

Problems Hit NASA Science Probes
NASA's Deep Space 1 technology demonstrator probe and Mars Odyssey have both experienced problems over the last week.

Deep Space 1 was affected by several problems and was put in contingency mode as a precaution. The most serious problem encountered was the loss of attitude lock. The DS1 team has identified the causes of the problems and has now returned the spacecraft to normal operation. Deep Space 1, which was launched in October 1998, has already completed its primary mission of testing 12 spacecraft technologies and is now on an extended mission in which it will rendezvous with the comet Borrelly later this month.

Mars Odyssey, currently well on its way to Mars, has experienced the failure of the Martian Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE). The experiment failed to respond during a downlink session and has now been turned off. The failure will be investigated and will be returned to service if a fix can be found. MARIE was intended to monitor radiation levels during the trip to Mars and whilst in orbit around the planet.

Researchers to Test Asteroid Collector in Zero Gravity Conditions
A University of Arkansas team will work in zero gravity to test a sample collector for a proposed NASA mission that one day may bring pieces of asteroids to Earth from space for study.

The test will be a crucial step in proposing a NASA space mission called HERA that would collect samples from three near-Earth asteroids and return those samples to Earth.

The test flight will take place during the week of Sept. 25 aboard NASA's KC-135 airplane at Johnson Space Center in Houston. A team led by Derek Sears, professor of cosmochemistry and director of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Center for Space and Planetary Science, (AOCSPS) will fly for several hours while the plane makes parabolic dips in the air, creating temporary microgravityconditions that last for up to 20 seconds. The researchers will have two days of flights to test the sample collector, and will experience microgravity anywhere from 30-40 times on each day.

The sample collector is not only the most technically difficult portion of the proposed HERA mission, it's the only part that has not been flight tested before.

The collector has two sharp blades made of tungsten carbide that counter-rotate at various speeds, chopping up small bits of rock and sending them flying upwards into the collector.

To test the collector, the researchers need asteroid-like materials, so Sears and his colleagues have ordered large bags of concrete, gravel, sand and iron filings to create different mixtures for use while in flight. From what scientists know about asteroids from images and from meteorites, Sears speculates that a mixture of iron, sand and gravel will come closest to re-creating an asteroid surface.

The proposed HERA mission would use technology derived from the NEAR mission to visit three near-Earth asteroids. The spacecraft would then collect samples of rocks upon the surface of all three bodies before returning to Earth.

An official proposal for the mission could be sent to NASA sometime next year, but first the collector must pass a vacuum test. Those tests are planned for December.

Tracking Black Marlin in Australia
A 'pop-up' satellite tag retrieved by a beachcombing dog has recorded the 1100-kilometre journey of a black marlin tagged last November off Cairns (Queensland, Australia).

The tag washed up at Brunswick Heads in northern New South Wales and was posted back to CSIRO Marine Research at Hobart for analysis.

The tag was attached to the fish for a month, before becoming automatically detached. The tag showed that the 80-kg marlin swam south-easterly with the East Australian Current, and rarely dived deeper than 120 metres.

Pop-up tags transmit details of diving patterns, water temperatures and daily locations to satellites, after they have become detached from the fish. The volume of data they transmit is limited by battery power. A full record of the fish's movements can only be recovered in the rare event that a tag is returned.

The black marlin was one of five tagged by Mr John Gunn of CSIRO Marine Research and Dr Julian Pepperell of Pepperell Research in a pilot project supported by the Game Fishing Association of Australia Research and Development Foundation.

"This was the first time we used the $ 8000 pop-up satellite tags on black marlin in Australia," Mr Gunn says. "All five tags used in the project clearly show that black marlin swim away from the Coral Sea following the spring-early summer spawning."

Two short-term tags popped up after four and five days, 120 nautical miles south-east of Cairns, showing that the fish were swimming at an average speed of 1.25 knots.

The two other 'long-term' tags surfaced after one month off Lihou Reef, 300 nautical miles east of Cairns, and after two months east of Gladstone, 650 nautical miles south-east of Cairns.

The study shows that when fish are handled and tagged carefully by experienced crews, their chance of survival is high.

Pop-up satellite tags also have the potential to help uncover links between recreational fishing and longlining in the Pacific Ocean, helping scientists to assess the impact of commercial fishing on black marlin populations.

Between 500 and 1500 black marlin are tagged with simple dart tags off Cairns each year by recreational anglers. But only about 300 recaptures have been notified to NSW Fisheries in more than 20 years.

In June last year a black marlin tagged near Cairns four years earlier was recaptured after a 14 000-km journey to Costa Rica.

The project's next phase is planned for the 2001 season in Cairns, and possibly later in the 2001/2002 summer, as black marlin are caught along the east coast of Australia during their southward migration.

The aim is to tag a further 20 fish in the Cairns fishery. Australian and overseas funding sources for this work are being sought.

Manned Space

Staying in Bed to Simulate Weightlessness
Spending a long time in a weightless environment has an impact on the human body, and evidence exists of changes to the bone and muscles of astronauts who have participated in long-duration missions in space.

To cope with the requirements of long-stay missions aboard the International Space Station, the European Space Agency, together with the French space agency CNES and the Japanese space agency NASDA, are validating countermeasures through a preventive-medicine ground-based simulation that makes use of the bed rest model.

The study runs over two periods of four months, one starting in August this year, the other in March next years. Each time, fourteen test subjects will lie in bed for a period of three months, to produce sufficient scientific data. The total duration of each campaign is 120 days: 90 days in strict -6° head down tilt, with a preparatory period of 15 days beforehand and a 15 day recovery phase after. Previous studies, where the inclination varied from 0 to -15°, have shown that the -6° position is the best for simulating the effects of the weightless environment of space.

This is the first ever long-term bed rest study of such complexity and duration to be carried out in Europe. The main objective is to assess the changes to muscles and bone typically arising on long-duration space flight and evaluate methods of counteracting such changes. Additional experiments will also investigate the cardiovascular system and neuro-endocrine regulation of urine production, psychological behaviour and changes in the sleep-wake cycle. The study is also aimed at improving the medical aspects of healthcare for people afflicted with muscle and bone-wasting diseases.

The experiments have been proposed by European scientists in answer to an ESA announcement of opportunity, and by NASDA scientists for the research into bone physiology. A dozen scientific groups representing about eighty researchers are involved.

Throughout the study, the subjects will have to undergo many investigations such as tests during exercise, osteodensitometry (measurement of bone-density) and magnetic resonance imaging. Analysis of muscle biopsies and extensive biochemical analysis of biological samples will be performed.

In their spare time the test subjects will be able to read, play games, watch TV and use computers. Meals will be served in bed, but the test subjects will not be allowed to sit. They will be able to make calls to their families, but during the three months they will have only very limited opportunity to make contact with the outside world.

At the end of the study, the test subjects will be followed up with specialised medical check-ups at forty-five days, three months, six months and one year with a follow-up questionnaire after three years.

A team of medical and psychological experts from the MEDES Institute for Space Medicine and Physiology selected the candidates during the first half of the year and is in charge of the implementation of the study. The Toulouse-based institute has over ten years of experience of conducting bed rest simulation experiments. Since 1996 personnel from the "space clinic" have participated in six different bed rest studies.

Since the study has to be as homogeneous as possible, only male candidates aged between 25-45 have been selected. The fourteen test subjects selected out of a total of 450 applicants are between 29 and 41 and are all French nationals. Their occupations range from history and geography teachers to builders, from psychiatrists to postmen and from gardeners to accountants.

Technology

DBS Industries Offers Energy Conservation Solution to California
DBS Industries Inc has submitted a proposal to the California State Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority (the Power Authority) for the use of a Satellite-Based Energy Control System designed to conserve electrical consumption and alleviate the threat of rolling blackouts in the State of California.

The proposal was made to the Power Authority's Board of Directors on Friday, August 24, 2001, at the Board's first public meeting in Sacramento, California.

DBSI has developed a unique satellite-based solution to California's energy crisis, with the help of partners Arthur D. Little, Bechtel Corporation and Iridium Satellite LLC, who is providing satellite capacity

The DBSI team has developed the technology to remotely turn down individual commercial rooftop air conditioners located throughout the State at times of high peak load, potentially saving enough power to avoid rolling blackouts.

Launch Services

Aerojet Test Fires World's Largest Monolithic Solid Rocket Motor
Aerojet has successfully test fired a full-scale, 67-foot demonstration solid rocket motor for 95 seconds at thrust levels ranging from 285,000 to 390,000 pounds of thrust.

The motor, strapped horizontally to a massive test stand, burned nominally in this assessment of the performance, quality and processing of the solid propellant. Two more hot fire tests in the Lockheed Martin Atlas V launch vehicle configuration are scheduled for completion by early next year.

This motor testing phase concludes more than two years of design and development work by a dedicated program team of scientists, engineers and specialists at Aerojet, and moves this important next generation US launch vehicle closer to actual production. Medium-to-heavy-lift launch vehicles will be used primarily for launches of US government missions as well as the commercial satellite market.

Launches

H2A

Launched: 29 August 2001
Site: Tanegashima, Japan
Launcher: H-2A

Orbit: GTO, apogee: 36,137 km, perigee: 260 km: inclination: 28.1°
International Number: 2001-038A
Name: Laser Ranging Equipment (LRE)

Orbit: GTO, apogee: 36,1356 km, perigee: 267 km: inclination: 28.1°
International Number: 2001-038B
Name: Vehicle Evaluation Payload No 2 (VEP 2)

This was the first launch of Japan's H2A rocket.

LRE is a geodesy satellite. It is a 50 cm diameter, 86 kg ball covered with 24 metal mirror plates and 126 laser retroreflectors.

The Vehicle Evaluation Payload (VEP-2) is an instrumentation payload which collects information about the launch environment. It remains attached to the second stage.

Intelsat 902

Launched: 30 August 2001
Site: CSG Kourou, French Guiana
Launcher: Ariane 44L
Orbit: GEO, 62° E
International Number: 2001-039A
Name: Intelsat 902
Owner: Intelsat
Contractor: Space Systems/Loral

Intelsat 902 is a commercial communications satellite and will provide services over the Indian Ocean Region. It carries 72 C band and 22 Ku band transponders and has a design life of 13 years. It will replace Intelsat 602 which will be moved to 33° E.

Business

EMS Technologies Closes Private Placement Of Common Stock
EMS Technologies Inc has closed its previously announced private placement for the sale of approximately 1.3 million shares of its common stock to selected institutional and private investors. The proceeds will be used to reduce debt, as well as support near-term growth plans.

The shares of EMS stock were priced at US$ 14 per share, for gross proceeds to the Company of approximately US$ 18.5 million. Needham & Company Inc served as placement agent on the transaction. Following this private placement, EMS Technologies has a total of 10.2 million shares outstanding.

EMS Technologies Inc is a leading provider of technology solutions to wireless and satellite markets. The Company focuses on mobile information users, and increasingly on broadband applications. The Company is headquartered in Atlanta, employs 2,000 people worldwide, and has manufacturing facilities in Atlanta, Montreal, Ottawa and Brazil.

Iridium Adds African Partner
Satellite phone operator Iridium Satellite has signed a service partner agreement with Global Plus covering the African market. This brings the total number of Iridium service provider partners to sixteen.

Global Plus is a division of Multisat PLC which provides satellite services in 35 African countries. It offers mobile and fixed satellite services to governmental organisations and the oil and gas, mining and construction industries.

People

Arianespace Names New COO
Jean-Yves Le Gall has been named Chief Operating Officer of Arianespace.

Le Gall's primary mission will be to energise Arianespace's sales and marketing policy, and bolster the competitiveness of Ariane 5.

The 42-year-old Le Gall's appointment became effective on August 27, 2001, replacing Jacques Rossignol.

Le Gall comes to Arianespace from Starsem, where he has been the Chairman and CEO since 1998. Starsem is the French-Russian joint venture in charge of marketing and operating the Soyuz launcher.

A 1981 graduate of the Ecole Supérieure d'Optique, Jean-Yves Le Gall also holds a doctorate in engineering from the University of Paris-Sud (1983). His entire career has been in the space industry.

He joined French CNRS national scientific research agency in 1981 as a researcher in the space astronomy laboratory, and subsequently held several major positions with French space ministries.

In 1993, he was named Chief Operating Officer of Novespace, then moved to the French CNES space agency in 1996 as Deputy Director General in charge of strategy and external relations. At the same time, Le Gall was French delegate to the ESA Council.

Fantastic Announces Management Change
The Fantastic Corporation has announced the departure of David Wilf, COO from the Company. David Wilf has decided to return to the practice of law.

Fantastic is not planning to replace the function of the COO. David Wilf will pursue a number of tasks with Fantastic until his departure during the latter part of September. All of David Wilf's direct reports will report to Reto Braun, the CEO of the Company.

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